Harvest

I’ve been a little quiet lately, but there is a good reason for that. Harvest. Now last year I spent harvest writing The Sunnyvale Girls and by the time I came up for air I had one ride in the truck with dad and then harvest was finished. A very weird feeling I must say….felt like I’d missed a whole chunck of life. But not this year, this year some friends asked if I would drive their second header. I jumped at the chance as they were happy for me to work between school hours. Perfect. It probably wasn’t meant to last long but due to weather, good yield and breakdowns we are still harvesting. Not that I’m complaining as I’m loving it. I have a beautiful big yellow New Holland header called Holly and we have been carving up the paddocks, collecting canola, barley and wheat. Going to work each day is a joy.

It was an Author Talk tour of epic proportions. One blue Holden Commodore with a trailer full of books travelling over 2,400 kilometres across the state of WA. Inside this tardis like vehicle were authors Fiona Palmer (driver) and Rachael Johns (navigator – with the help of WhereIs and our Wog Boy guide). We set off in September to Albany for a talk at the library and were interviewed by famous local Jon Doust. It was a belly laugh talk with Jon digging deep and asking the tricky questions. Then we headed to Kojonup, Rach’s old stomping ground and first country home, also where Jilted was set. It was our first night of talking together, sharing our journeys to publication and the stories behind our new books. Next, we travelled to Busselton for a lunchtime library talk, catching up with the Dymocks girls. And Karen, from the Library,

I am a big fan of YA books / New Adult books so it seems fitting that I’ll finally have my own YA story published in May called The Recruit. I’ve had this book written for a while, just sitting on my computer in the background while I focused on my rural stories. But now, thanks to Escape Publishing (& Kate), I get to share this story with you. 🙂 This is the first book in a series. How long the series goes for…I’m still undecided. I have finished the second book and about to start the third. So we will see how far Jaz, Ryan, Anna and Taylor take me. I got the very cool cover from Kate today, what do you think? BLURB: From one of Australia’s Queens of Romance comes the debut in a brand new YA series about secrets, strengths, and what lies beneath the surface. Jasmine Thomas may not be completely normal, but

Going to Rome we were a little worried. We had heard stories about having your wallets stolen. And we were a little sad to leave our car (freedom) behind in Arezzo. No one was game to drive in Rome and I’m quite glad as I don’t think I could have returned it scratch free. But we didn’t have to worry as we had no problems walking around Rome. (We did stay above ground mind you. No crazy subways for us) We arrived by train and walked to our hotel, which wasn’t far at all. We are used to the cobbled roads and uneven footpaths. Rome feels like one giant maze. Tall buildings hug the tiny roads so you have no idea what could be around the corner and in Rome there was always something amazing. Like the Trevi fountain, just sitting squished in around these buildings. We could walk to most of these sights from

I was going to go straight to blogging about Rome but then I had all these photo’s from our visit to Naples and Pompeii so I’ve had to split it into another blog. :/ I try to keep the photo’s to a minimum, honest!! So when we got to Rome we did a day trip to Naples and first stop was a castle made from lava rock with a massive marble entry. (It once sat surrounded by sea.) Then a walk through the city and a big mall type building set out like a cross with amazing marble and mossaic floors. Yes, I took lots of photo’s of the mosaics too. I was going to share them but I have heaps from the Vatican. :/ Okay, maybe just one. And people were just walking all over it!! If I had busted my butt making this I would have it roped off lol. This (Piazza Plebiscito) was just around the corner and

After Venice we caught trains to Florence and then Arezzo. Here we picked up our hire car and drove south to Montone. Mum had found this place advertised in a magazine so we decided to spend 11 nights here and make it our base. Casa Valdeste is a beautiful late 14th-century, terrace-style two-bedroom cottage on three floors, 60 metres from Montone’s centrepiece, Piazza Fortebraccio, the main square in the medieval village of Montone. The walls are of stone, about one metre thick and buttressed on the south-western side. The house features huge oak and chestnut beams on all ceilings, double-glazed chestnut windows, world-renowned Cotto d’Este floor tiles and exquisite ceramic wall-hangings. Casa Valdeste is owned by some Aussies and this is their website. Check it out. It’s a one way road around the large wall of our little medieval village. From the top on a foggy day it feels like we are floating through

Next in my Writers Whereabouts is Cathryn Hein. She writes about Mt Gambier, which I can say I have visited and seen the gorgeous Blue Lake. I hope you enjoy this snippet into Cathryn’s life and my favourite photo is the one of Cathryn jumping on Dinks. Look at you go, Cathryn! Thanks so much for inviting me on Writer Whereabouts, Fiona. It’s a lovely idea for a series, albeit a little tricky for me given our penchant for moving around. Five and a bit months ago we were Melbournians, catching trams, grinning each time we passed the MCG, and loving its football tribalism. Five years ago Newcastle was home, and what a fabulous one it was too. This time ten years ago we were four months into what turned out to be a three year stint living in the south of France. In a few years time we could be somewhere else. I hope

[nggallery id=4] Jenn J McLeod is taking you home to the country…. Gosh, I’m glad I’m not following on from Tony Park’s post [add link]. My writer whereabouts would seem rather tame after his – and in more ways than one; my little corner of the country is delightfully dull in terms of wildlife. It’s quiet and peaceful, which was a very lovely change from the hectic corporate existence in Sydney. Where I began… I wasn’t always small town girl. Growing up in Curl Curl – a leafy Sydney beachside suburb – I was more likely to find sand in unmentionable places than Redbacks on my toilet seat (or feet, Fee!). One day I woke up and found myself living in Sydney’s Hills district in a ‘McMansion’– the air-conditioned cocoon with an automatic garage door that swallowed us up into a private oblivion, then spat us out every morning like clockwork to tackle the

As promised here is the next chance for you to win a copy of The Sunburnt Country. Today I got my first copy in the mail. Always such a great feeling, to hold your words in your hand and admire the cover. They have compacted this book, with the words smaller on the page. I don’t like it when they spaced it all out as if trying to make the book look bigger than it is. And on the plus side it will be lighter to post this way lol. So for your chance to go in the draw to win a signed copy of this book, all you have to do is watch the book trailer here, and then comment and tell me which picture you think was taken in WA. Every comment will go into the draw, regardless if wrong or right. It will be drawn on Friday the 15th. x Also a

Okay, so I didn’t get around to drawing the comp this morning. I was up at 5.30 for a walk up to the top of the rock and back, getting home an hour later. Then I was in a mad flap to get the kids ready as I had to head into Katanning for the day leaving no time for the draw. Got home late, unpacked, fed kids and finally did the draw. Sorry. But on the bright side I gave you all an extra day to enter the competition. (I’m looking at the positives.) So after drawing a number out of a hat, the winner of the signed copy of The Sunburnt Country is…. “Bec” (I don’t have your last name but I have your email address and will be congratulating you very soon!!) Bec said her favourite car was an FJ Holden ute. Congratulations Bec. Now don’t worry. I will be running another competition and a